Toryism

Toryism is a British variant of traditionalist conservatism that originated in the late 17th century. Toryism was best exemplified by the policies of the Tory Party, a reactionary and monarchist political party that was formed in England in 1678 in the aftermath of the English Civil War. The Tories upheld legitimism, supporting the Catholic House of Stuart and opposing the liberal Whigs, which opposed the absolute monarchy of the Stuarts. Toryism declined in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution and the failures of the Jacobite uprisings of the first half of the 18th century, but the Tories were resurrected in the late 18th century in the form of an ultra-royalist political party that accepted the Protestant House of Hanover's reign and abandoned its diehard support for the Catholic Stuarts. Toryism became a new brand of conservatism, which combined moderate Whig economic views and Tory social views, and the Tory Party's younger generations became more moderate and pro-reform. The older traditionalists would retain the Tory legacy, but the term "Tory" came to apply to all UK Conservative Party and Conservative Party of Canada members, whether or not the members of the parties agreed with traditionalism.